OT: Rockcats to Hartford?

[CL82]

me too. That's a nifty little stadium they have in New Britain.

Mayor's kinda hot too, no?

Not ashamed to say I googled her after reading your post.

DoctorWho said:
If this is indeed true, any change this means UConn Baseball will be playing games in Hartford as well?​

I thought this as well and NCAA Tourney games. I'd love to see some of the ideas for tying both sides of the city together be a part of this proposal as well. It would be nice to have a nice broad pedestrian walkway with trees there similar to the Highline.

​

 

[OkaForPrez]

Am I picturing this correct?

 

[Excalibur]

Not ashamed to say I googled her after reading your post.

So the answer is "no".

 

[Waquoit]

Not ashamed to say I googled her after reading your post.

Reminds a bit of that woman that just won all those games on Jeopardy.

 

[WestHartHusk]

The opposition to this on political grounds is silly. Republicans really like Ms. Stewart and it's bad for her and them if NB loses the franchise. That's really transparent in the chatter here and on the WTIC talk shows.

Still, I can't help but think that this is going to be an enormous flop, and the owners are going to lose their shirts on this despite all of the free stuff they're getting from Hartford. CT residents do not like to be inconvenienced. They are not going to sit in rush hour traffic with their kids to get to a 6:05 game. I predict an attendance falloff of about 25% by the end of the second year.

I have an extremely hard time taking seriously any predictions from someone whose avatar is truck-nuts.

 

[Husky25]

It appears that most night games start at 6:35 or 7:05 now. Again, why would traffic be any worse than for a UConn hoop game? In fact, rush hour is less onerous during the summer months.

Having said that, the track record for Hartford and minor league sports is abysmal.

I think many patrons will already be downtown and traffic isn't terrible coming in from the South (I-91) or East (Rte. 2 or I-84). Traffic from the West should theoretically be relieved by the busway by then.

At the end of the day though, 10,000 people will not be going against the grain every night. AA affiliations do not routinely sell out mid-week games.

 

[John]

Not ashamed to say I googled her after reading your post.

I offer my shoulder to cry upon

 

[John]

So the answer is "no".

to each his own.

 

[uconnric]

It appears that most night games start at 6:35 or 7:05 now. Again, why would traffic be any worse than for a UConn hoop game? In fact, rush hour is less onerous during the summer months.

Having said that, the track record for Hartford and minor league sports is abysmal.

Not really, the Hartford Charter Oaks and Hartford Knights football teams did pretty well for a number of years.

 

[John]

from the Courant:

"The Eastern League has had franchises in Waterbury, West Haven, Bristol, New Haven and Norwich, but by far the most successful and enduring has been New Britain."

If New Haven couldn't swing it, what makes them think Hartford can? I say if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And Hartford is going to pay millions to build this thing. If so, I say don't come pleading poverty to CCM or the State anytime in the future.....

 

[Excalibur]

I have an extremely hard time taking seriously any predictions from someone whose avatar is truck-nuts.

Um, that was leftover from the NCAA tournament. I figured I'd be a bit more creative than all of the Senhor Testiculo avatars.

 

[Excalibur]

It appears that most night games start at 6:35 or 7:05 now. Again, why would traffic be any worse than for a UConn hoop game? In fact, rush hour is less onerous during the summer months.

A fair amount of attendees of UConn hoops games never leave the city after work.

 

[DoctorWho85]

from the Courant:

"The Eastern League has had franchises in Waterbury, West Haven, Bristol, New Haven and Norwich, but by far the most successful and enduring has been New Britain."

If New Haven couldn't swing it, what makes them think Hartford can? I say if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And Hartford is going to pay millions to build this thing. If so, I say don't come pleading poverty to CCM or the State anytime in the future.....

I totally forgot about the Waterbury team. The Spirit I think it was. Used to go to Municipal Stadium all the time to watch them. Good childhood memories there. Now all I get at the stadium is lackluster firework displays on the 4th.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Um, that was leftover from the NCAA tournament. I figured I'd be a bit more creative than all of the Senhor Testiculo avatars.

Ahhhhhhh. My bad. Damn, I can't believe I already forgot about Testiculo. I will go sit in the corner.

 

[whaler11]

I totally forgot about the Waterbury team. The Spirit I think it was. Used to go to Municipal Stadium all the time to watch them. Good childhood memories there. Now all I get at the stadium is lackluster firework displays on the 4th.

Waterbury had the Indians. The Spirit played in the CamAm league I think.

 

[Waquoit]

Not really, the Hartford Charter Oaks and Hartford Knights football teams did pretty well for a number of years.

Yeah, but Marv Hubbard isn't walking through that door.

But that was 40 years ago. Since the we've had the Hellions, the Hellcats, the Pride, the Coyotes, the Sea Wolves, the Colonials and the Wolf Pack. I've been to them all and had a good time at all of them. But besides the Pack, they were all pretty short-lived.

 

[Bezzz]

Many moons ago (early 90's) I was hired by a pie-in-the-sky developer to do preliminary design work for a triple-A ballpark in Hartford. He wanted it to look like a small version of Ebbets Field. Same area as the new ballpark proposal, different parcel. I remember I had to make some changes to the existing streets to get the park to fit.

Anywho, I found the drawing in the dark depths of one of my flat files --pre computer drafting, ink on mylar hand drawn.

 

[ThabeetDown]

I worked for the Rock Cats for a couple of seasons, this is huge for the team. What it really came down to is that the stadium was too small for what the team was attracting. They continue to break attendance records every year, and they have become limited by their stadium capacity.

Facility wise, NB Stadium isn't that great for being less than 20 years old. Not a bad seat in the house, but that's about all it has going for it for the fans, front office, & players. Also, location wise this is a huge upgrade. There is literally nothing around NB Stadium. As someone else mentioned its between NBHS and a park. Although it is conveniently near Route 9, it's a traffic nightmare both pre & post game since there is only 1 way in and 1 way out.

As long as they keep prices relatively the same, I think attendance will improve even more. It will be so much easier for business events on weekdays (people can walk from their office--nothing like a summer rooftop party at the game with a few kegs) and on weekends for families it will just be a better destination with a brand new stadium/location. Grab some dinner before a Saturday night game, what else is better than that during the summer?

Huge win for Hartford & its local businesses, huge loss for NB but there really isn't anything around it that will be negatively impacted.

 

[Bezzz]

Waterbury had the Indians. The Spirit played in the CamAm league I think.

Waterbury had the Giants, Indians, Pirates, Dodgers, A's, Red's and Angels. I attended an open tryout the Dodgers had there one summer. I didn't get selected. But I did get to play in Municipal Stadium in the Twi-Met League. Always a thrill to pitch under the lights.

Linky

 

[Husky25]

I worked for the Rock Cats for a couple of seasons, this is huge for the team. What it really came down to is that the stadium was too small for what the team was attracting. They continue to break attendance records every year, and they have become limited by their stadium capacity.

Facility wise, NB Stadium isn't that great for being less than 20 years old. Not a bad seat in the house, but that's about all it has going for it for the fans, front office, & players. Also, location wise this is a huge upgrade. There is literally nothing around NB Stadium. As someone else mentioned its between NBHS and a park. Although it is conveniently near Route 9, it's a traffic nightmare both pre & post game since there is only 1 way in and 1 way out.

As long as they keep prices relatively the same, I think attendance will improve even more. It will be so much easier for business events on weekdays (people can walk from their office--nothing like a summer rooftop party at the game with a few kegs) and on weekends for families it will just be a better destination with a brand new stadium/location. Grab some dinner before a Saturday night game, what else is better than that during the summer?

Huge win for Hartford & its local businesses, huge loss for NB but there really isn't anything around it that will be negatively impacted.

Parking is terrible in New Britain. There were days (night time during the week) where we would park at the back of the Honda Dealership (as if we were doing a night drop and having work done) across the street and walk. Probably can't do that too often, but for how often we went, it wouldn't trigger a flag by anyone watching the surveillance cameras.

 

[Padutch5]

A fair amount of attendees of UConn hoops games never leave the city after work.

I guess you haven't driven into or through Hartford in late afternoon lately?

 

[OkaForPrez]

Many moons ago (early 90's) I was hired by a pie-in-the-sky developer to do preliminary design work for a triple-A ballpark in Hartford. He wanted it to look like a small version of Ebbets Field. Same area as the new ballpark proposal, different parcel. I remember I had to make some changes to the existing streets to get the park to fit.

Anywho, I found the drawing in the dark depths of one of my flat files --pre computer drafting, ink on mylar hand drawn.

View attachment 6136

Any chance someone had you mock up a new downtown arena

 

[Excalibur]

I guess you haven't driven into or through Hartford in late afternoon lately?

Incorrect. Have you attended a game at the XL center? All those guys in suits didn't stop home before heading to the game.

 

[Excalibur]

Ahhhhhhh. My bad. Damn, I can't believe I already forgot about Testiculo. I will go sit in the corner.

No, it's fine. In any other scenario, displaying truck nutz is a perfectly legitimate reason to discredit someone . . .

 

[rich1122]

Competition breeds new ideas. I liked the the Rockettes. Saw David Ortiz, Tori Hunter, Morneay Pierzynski among others. New Britain may pick up another team along the way to compete with Hartford. Good beer. Good sausage and pepper grinders.